down payment

American  

Or down-payment

noun

• down payments
  plural

1. an initial amount paid at the time of purchase, in installment buying, time sales, etc.

2. any initial or partial payment, gift, favor, or recompense, as to reduce one's indebtedness or express one's obligation or gratitude.

   This gift is just a down payment for all the favors I owe you.

---

down payment British  

noun

1. the deposit paid on an item purchased on hire-purchase, mortgage, etc

---

down payment Cultural  

1. A payment in part made at the time of purchase of a good, with the promise to make full payment later.

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• down payments
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of down payment

First recorded in 1925–30

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

down payment

We expect to help one of our sons with a down payment on a home in Los Angeles once he has enough savings for the monthly payments.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 31, 2026

She just gave her daughter roughly $5,000 toward a down payment on a London apartment.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 31, 2026

We’re among them: When my husband went to grad school, his parents gave him the down payment for a small apartment in Tucson, Arizona.

From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2026

When he graduated, they encouraged him to rent it out and keep the income; when we decided to buy, he sold the apartment and we used the proceeds for our own down payment.

From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2026

He wouldn’t hear of taking any money from me, not as a favor, not as a loan, not as an investment, or even as the down payment on a partnership.

From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• deposit

---